Cristiano Ronaldo: Set to leave by mutual agreement

Is Ronaldo justified to say that he “feels betrayed” by Manchester United?

  • Ronaldo should be not be allowed to play for United again

    Votes: 1,536 81.7%
  • He's always been a massive bellend

    Votes: 884 47.0%
  • Messi has always been the better player

    Votes: 574 30.5%
  • He should be begged to come back with double the salary and ten Haag should bow to his greatness

    Votes: 126 6.7%

  • Total voters
    1,881
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marktan

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After that interview, I've changed my mind and am back on team Ronaldo. ETH out.

Make Ronaldo player-manager and give him what he needs to return us to our glory days.
 

amolbhatia50k

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So... Where do Ronaldo fans go from here? Do they start hating the club and ETH? Sure they're a bizarre lot but it's interesting.
They're Ronaldo fans. They'll follow him wherever he goes, echo his views and live in their own bubble. In social media they'll probably take shots at United / ETH but they're a weird bunch and have been doing that anyway on various topics.
 

mitchmouse

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I'd be massively surprised if he ever played for us again but let's not pretend that he isn't right about how far we are from the the top teams these days. City have every bit of tech going while we can't even appoint a DoF. Which other club would give some made-up title to Darren Fletcher?

He's gone about this the wrong way, of course but is he wrong about RR? Well, everyone and his dog know the answer to that. Is he wrong about the set-up? Well, everyone who's been to OT recently says it's run down. And that's a bit of a metaphor for the club.

Of course, he has a super ego. That pretty much goes hand-in-hand with superstars these days. I hate it but is Ronaldo wrong about how some youngsters behave? Well, the headlines answer that one.

He has to go - but I'm not entirely convinced that this is what he planned. He has to go, but the club needs to take a long hard look at itself.

There's much to disagree with from the interview too - not least that he thinks Ole needed more time and will go on to become a good coach. But anyone who thinks Ronaldo wasn't good last season is either very biased or wasn't watching. He does still have the drive and determination to go on. He'll never be what he was but that's to be expected - and he needs to realise and accept that
 

JPRouve

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Are you ok with him disrespecting the current manager? Even if you agree or ignore absolutely everything else he’s said that alone is enough to never play for the club again.
That's actually my stance. Even though I made a point about his nonsense regarding facilities, there is no scenario where you can accept that a player ostensibly disrespect managers, that's true for ETH and that's also true for Rangnick because his comments give more wait to the infamous meeting that he allegedly pushed for and was about dictating how the team should play tactically.
 

Grande

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The evidence is pointing towards Solskjaer and the likes of Fergie, Ferdinand and Bruno would only get involved after Solskjaer had made it clear to the board that he wanted Ronaldo.

Below is a excerpt from The Athletic which clearly points to Solskjaer being the one who got the ball rolling as far as the Ronaldo signing is concerned. And once that was established with the board, it was Woodward's role to then sell the idea to Joel Glazer.

Whitwell/Crafton: "Solskjaer placed a call to chief executive Ed Woodward with one aim — he wanted to know if United could do the deal instead. It was a quick conversation. Woodward agreed instantly and set about negotiating with Ronaldo’s Italian club, Juventus."

https://theathletic.com/2794203/202...n-to-manchester-united-how-the-deal-was-done/

Jonathan Northcroft in his 'The Times' column went on to say that Solskjaer ignored the advice of his coaching staff to sign Ronaldo because he believed Ronaldo's goals would make up for his off the ball deficiencies.
Well, of course it’s difficult to know what to believe. Whitwell and Norcroft usually don’t base their speculation on nothing, then again, it’s hard to tell sometimes when they have a good source or when they or their sources are second guessing. Being from Norway, a friend of someone I know talks to Ole and asked him point blank about wether he had wanted the Ronaldo move. The answer he said was a clear no - that he accepted it but didn’t want it.
I don’t really expect anyone to believe ‘ITK’-stuff like this, and there are room for misunderstandings in this story too, just as even solid journalists often get quite a few details wrong even if they get the big picture and main themes quite well.

What makes sense to me about the version in the info I have, is that we know that Solskjær had ambitions of getting United to play with higher press. He said so in his early interviews, he did it with Molde, and we saw him start with it several times only to retract when the players lost too many lose goals. Solskjær learnt a lot about low defending and direct attacks under Egil Drillo Olsen, Ferguson and Queiroz, and it may be his strongest suit as a coach, but he was inspired by Meulensteen, Guardiola and Klopp early on to defend higher up and create overloads, and he implemented featurea of this quite successfully with Utd reserves and Molde. This was also alligned with McKenna’s and Carrick’s ideas, and getting Varane and Sancho seemed like maybe the crucial pieces of a puzzle to be able to stand high and create overloads. I’m in no doubt that was the strategy for the new season last year as well, for taking the final step from finalist and second place to real challengers. I think the implosion was mainly the result of how it didn’t work well enough, and the players reactions when there were setbacks. I don’t think Ronaldo was the main reason. But it would be clear to Ole that Ronaldo was not the player needed to make this kind of transition. In fact, he could have been very useful against Villarreal in the final a few months before, stylistically, but not with the way we lined up against Leeds and Southampton in last season’s openers.

The second thing is that Solskjær knew Ronaldo from close up. He would know, perhaps better than anyone, that Ronaldo was the most opposite personality of himself thinkable. He knew how to get the most out of Ighalo and a 36 year old Cavani, but he would also know very well that Ronaldo was not a good candidate for such a role. To me it makes very little sense that Solskjær would want Ronaldo in at huge wages at that point in time. Ferguson probably would, Woodward certainly would, Joel Glazer certainly would, but Solskjær, I find that unlikely.
 

JPRouve

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I'd be massively surprised if he ever played for us again but let's not pretend that he isn't right about how far we are from the the top teams these days. City have every bit of tech going while we can't even appoint a DoF. Which other club would give some made-up title to Darren Fletcher?

He's gone about this the wrong way, of course but is he wrong about RR? Well, everyone and his dog know the answer to that. Is he wrong about the set-up? Well, everyone who's been to OT recently says it's run down. And that's a bit of a metaphor for the club.

Of course, he has a super ego. That pretty much goes hand-in-hand with superstars these days. I hate it but is Ronaldo wrong about how some youngsters behave? Well, the headlines answer that one.

He has to go - but I'm not entirely convinced that this is what he planned. He has to go, but the club needs to take a long hard look at itself.

There's much to disagree with from the interview too - not least that he thinks Ole needed more time and will go on to become a good coach. But anyone who thinks Ronaldo wasn't good last season is either very biased or wasn't watching. He does still have the drive and determination to go on. He'll never be what he was but that's to be expected - and he needs to realise and accept that
The clubs that initially gave up some made-up title to Nedved and Zidane? Ronaldo knows them...
 

AndySmith1990

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I'd be massively surprised if he ever played for us again but let's not pretend that he isn't right about how far we are from the the top teams these days. City have every bit of tech going while we can't even appoint a DoF. Which other club would give some made-up title to Darren Fletcher?

He's gone about this the wrong way, of course but is he wrong about RR? Well, everyone and his dog know the answer to that. Is he wrong about the set-up? Well, everyone who's been to OT recently says it's run down. And that's a bit of a metaphor for the club.

Of course, he has a super ego. That pretty much goes hand-in-hand with superstars these days. I hate it but is Ronaldo wrong about how some youngsters behave? Well, the headlines answer that one.

He has to go - but I'm not entirely convinced that this is what he planned. He has to go, but the club needs to take a long hard look at itself.

There's much to disagree with from the interview too - not least that he thinks Ole needed more time and will go on to become a good coach. But anyone who thinks Ronaldo wasn't good last season is either very biased or wasn't watching. He does still have the drive and determination to go on. He'll never be what he was but that's to be expected - and he needs to realise and accept that
Love your posts, I always play a game with myself and guess how many times you'll say "but" before the end
 

fallengt

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He mentioned some "great coaches" that he worked with, namely, Ancelotti, Allegri, Mourinho, Santos, Zidane, not a word about SAF :)
Dude also thinks football is figured out after hundred years, no point to reinvent it . Even chess is still changing with the help of machine learning but who are we kidding? Ronaldo knows best :)
 
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Woodzy

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Of course he rates Solksjaer, he would have always been the first name on the team sheet under him.

It does contradict a lot of the rumours from last season as well that Ronaldo was the aim one trying to force him out.
 

JPRouve

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He mentioned some "great coaches" that he worked with, namely, Ancelotti, Allegri, Mourinho, Santos, Zidane, not a word about SAF :)
Dude also thinks football is figured out after hundred years, no point to reinvent it . Even chess is still changing with the help of AI but who are we kidding? Ronaldo knows best :)
The worrying part is that he thinks that pressing and counter pressing are new concepts. Them new concepts that were in vogue in the 70s.
 

mitchmouse

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The clubs that initially gave up some made-up title to Nedved and Zidane? Ronaldo knows them...
you're equating Zidane (even if I always thought him overrated) to Darren Fletcher? not a great look
 

amolbhatia50k

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Love your posts, I always play a game with myself and guess how many times you'll say "but" before the end
:lol:

He mentioned some "great coaches" that he worked with, namely, Ancelotti, Allegri, Mourinho, Santos, Zidane, not a word about SAF :)
Dude also thinks football is figured out after hundred years, no point to reinvent it . Even chess is still changing with the help of AI but who are we kidding? Ronaldo knows best :)
Considering he spends all game standing up top waiving and waiting for chances to fall his way he's better off leaving the thinking to people whose job it is to do so.
 

MrEleson

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He mentioned some "great coaches" that he worked with, namely, Ancelotti, Allegri, Mourinho, Santos, Zidane, not a word about SAF :)
So in your opinion, he doesn’t rate SAF as a great coach..

He was clearly talking about the coaches he had after he left United the first time..
 

BarstoolProphet

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But you can understand his gripes at media when the reaction on here is that of pure hatred instead of wondering why it’s been done?
No, I can never understand his decision to do this interview regardless of his issues with the club. It's indefensible. It's so weird seeing people actually bothering to analyze his interview to see if he makes any good points or not, when that is irrelevant. Also it's so damn braindead.

Imagine accepting every employee going public with their gripes with their boss, CEO and colleagues because the facilities aren't top notch or that they're not treated like employee of the year with people saying "well, good on him for speaking out, he does make some fair points tbh". And then proceed to get offended if the employer take action.
 

cyberman

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I'd be massively surprised if he ever played for us again but let's not pretend that he isn't right about how far we are from the the top teams these days. City have every bit of tech going while we can't even appoint a DoF. Which other club would give some made-up title to Darren Fletcher?

He's gone about this the wrong way, of course but is he wrong about RR? Well, everyone and his dog know the answer to that. Is he wrong about the set-up? Well, everyone who's been to OT recently says it's run down. And that's a bit of a metaphor for the club.

Of course, he has a super ego. That pretty much goes hand-in-hand with superstars these days. I hate it but is Ronaldo wrong about how some youngsters behave? Well, the headlines answer that one.

He has to go - but I'm not entirely convinced that this is what he planned. He has to go, but the club needs to take a long hard look at itself.

There's much to disagree with from the interview too - not least that he thinks Ole needed more time and will go on to become a good coach. But anyone who thinks Ronaldo wasn't good last season is either very biased or wasn't watching. He does still have the drive and determination to go on. He'll never be what he was but that's to be expected - and he needs to realise and accept that
The problem is we don’t know what’s right or not. A lot of his points have been proven to be false already, it’s just what we think is right or wrong which plays into bias and that’s what it’s designed to do. Liverpool didn’t have a brand spanking new training ground, became the second best team in Europe so how much of a factor is it? As long as we aren’t playing in 1950 conditions it can’t be that far behind it by much at all
 

MrEleson

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Of course he rates Solksjaer, he would have always been the first name on the team sheet under him.
I didn’t get that he rated Solksjaer as a great coach. He was talking about Ole as a person. He only said later on that in the future he could be a good coach. And Ole benched him him a couple of times in the short time they spent together.
 

JPRouve

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you're equating Zidane (even if I always thought him overrated) to Darren Fletcher? not a great look
I'm equating made up titles for ex-players, such as Special advisor to the President. In fact we don't need to go to made up titles, some of the current best clubs in the world gave key jobs to ex players that had zero experience and still haven't shown any sort of quality for the job. Exhibit A: Salihamidzic.

I will never be not amazed by how little some of you know about what happens outside of United.
 

Polar

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So he posted articles, but your arguments are Ole never wanted him and apparently 'we all know' Ole was a nodding doll.
Several articles about this topic and some people here are very selective regarding which sources they want to bring into the discussion. You can actually pick what fits your story best, but it doesn’t make your story more true.

Example of article that doesn’t fit the story Ole, the driving force behind the Ronaldo deal.

https://www.caughtoffside.com/2021/11/22/solskjaer-didnt-want-ronaldo-transfer/amp/

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/solskjaer-sacked-manchester-united-news-b1961633.html

The Ronaldo deal was all about business and “Old School United”.

Ronaldo didn’t fit Ole’s style. Ole wanted to play gegenpress and meet the opponent high up on the pitch, (he spend a lot of time on Martial in this regard), but we all know he finally realised he didn’t had the right players. Then why bring in Ronaldo?

Ole was building a team. Finally he had something going on. Good result in PL and the atmosphere among players were pretty good. Most players were young and up and coming. Why risk everything with buying Ronaldo?

The Ronaldo deal has been a catastrophe for United, which culminated in the interview. The blame game has begun and people try to “save their own skin”. Fire workers are putted behind computers in order to protect their name and reputation.
 

Woodzy

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I didn’t get that he rated Solksjaer as a great coach. He was talking about Ole as a person. He only said later on that in the future he could be a good coach. And Ole benched him him a couple of times in the short time they spent together.
Didn’t he say he thought they were at their best under Ole? I didn’t watch the interview so just going on the things I’ve read on here.
 

Real Name

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Several articles about this topic and some people here are very selective regarding which sources they want to bring into the discussion. You can actually pick what fits your story best, but it doesn’t make your story more true.

Example of article that doesn’t fit the story Ole, the driving force behind the Ronaldo deal.

https://www.caughtoffside.com/2021/11/22/solskjaer-didnt-want-ronaldo-transfer/amp/

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/solskjaer-sacked-manchester-united-news-b1961633.html

The Ronaldo deal was all about business and “Old School United”.

Ronaldo didn’t fit Ole’s style. Ole wanted to play gegenpress and meet the opponent high up on the pitch, (he spend a lot of time on Martial in this regard), but we all know he finally realised he didn’t had the right players. Then why bring in Ronaldo?

Ole was building a team. Finally he had something going on. Good result in PL and the atmosphere among players were pretty good. Most players were young and up and coming. Why risk everything with buying Ronaldo?

The Ronaldo deal has been a catastrophe for United, which culminated in the interview. The blame game has begun and people try to “save their own skin”. Fire workers are putted behind computers in order to protect their name and reputation.
Are you really quoting caughtoffside?

Also Ole didnt have anything going, it was going to end like it did anyway, Ronaldo deal, which true was a catastrophy in the long run, only ended it more quickly.
He was building a team? Players he brought need to be shipped out now and his transfers all to one are disastrous.
 

LoneStar

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They're Ronaldo fans. They'll follow him wherever he goes, echo his views and live in their own bubble. In social media they'll probably take shots at United / ETH but they're a weird bunch and have been doing that anyway on various topics.
And what do they do once he decides to retire? Follow Mbappe I suppose.
 

Telsim

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I'd be massively surprised if he ever played for us again but let's not pretend that he isn't right about how far we are from the the top teams these days. City have every bit of tech going while we can't even appoint a DoF. Which other club would give some made-up title to Darren Fletcher?

He's gone about this the wrong way, of course but is he wrong about RR? Well, everyone and his dog know the answer to that. Is he wrong about the set-up? Well, everyone who's been to OT recently says it's run down. And that's a bit of a metaphor for the club.

Of course, he has a super ego. That pretty much goes hand-in-hand with superstars these days. I hate it but is Ronaldo wrong about how some youngsters behave? Well, the headlines answer that one.

He has to go - but I'm not entirely convinced that this is what he planned. He has to go, but the club needs to take a long hard look at itself.

There's much to disagree with from the interview too - not least that he thinks Ole needed more time and will go on to become a good coach. But anyone who thinks Ronaldo wasn't good last season is either very biased or wasn't watching. He does still have the drive and determination to go on. He'll never be what he was but that's to be expected - and he needs to realise and accept that
That's mostly my take on this. Except that I rate Rangnick and I think he was set up to fail spectacularly, not in small part due to Ronaldo's antics. And bringing Ronaldo back was ultimately a terrible decision for the club. It's impossible to say if last season would have been better or worse had he not been playing. He should be sacked now and the club should move on.

Nevertheless, there's merit to some of the things he said in this first part. Could be a shot in the arm for someone at the club.
 

fallengt

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So in your opinion, he doesn’t rate SAF as a great coach..

He was clearly talking about the coaches he had after he left United the first time..
“I've always been beside the best coaches in the world. Zidane, Ancelotti, Mourinho, Fernando Santos, Allegri. So I have kind of some experience, because I learnt from them."
That's the exact quote. In that exact context. Not my opinion.

Maybe he forgot about SAF whatever, I just wanted to throw cheap shot at him like he did it in the whole interview.
But his next statement is really stupid as pointed out above. Whoever disagrees should have a word with themselves.
 

Strelok

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It seems all his images have been removed from the United official page. I don't visit the page often. Could anyone confirm this?
 

JPRouve

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“I've always been beside the best coaches in the world. Zidane, Ancelotti, Mourinho, Fernando Santos, Allegri. So I have kind of some experience, because I learnt from them."
That's the exact quote. In that exact context.

Not my opinion
That point is beside Ronaldo. I'm generally amazed by that kind of logic and it generally comes from pundits, outside of Zidane all of these managers needed years to hone their craft, they worked hard to reach that level. It's naive and arrogant to think that observing them a little bit on the training ground or following their instructions give you a deep understanding of their thought process and the required experience to judge any manager accurately. If it was that easy nearly all of Ronaldo's past teammates would be in his position and ready to become top managers.
 

Rooney24

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you are telling me that if he'd said that and then joined City people on here wouldn't have gone balistic and called him a traitor...
No. I’m not. I’m saying there is little point in him moaning about the Glazers now when he has been employed by them not once but twice. Now that I write that he’s probably the only person to be employed by them twice ??? I could be wrong though.

Additionally he didn’t need to be at United in the intervening years to know what the issues were. They are well known and well reported. What he is telling us isn’t some revelation or unreported news till now.

He’s piggy backing on to the issue to save some face.
 

Lee565

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Based off twitter, Is it me or is most of the ronaldo cult following from countries in Asia
 

JPRouve

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No. I’m not. I’m saying there is little point in him moaning about the Glazers now when he has been employed by them not once but twice. Now that I write that he’s probably the only person to be employed by them twice ??? I could be wrong though.

Additionally he didn’t need to be at United in the intervening years to know what the issues were. They are well known and well reported. What he is telling us isn’t some revelation or unreported news till now.

He’s piggy backing on to the issue to save some face.
There is at least Ole, Fortune and Phelan.
 
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